Trump’s fundraising prowess: $82 million haul during first half of 2021

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Former President Trump’s various political committees brought in a combined $82 million in fundraising during the first six months of 2021.

And Trump has spent very little of the money he’s hauled in, with his committees entering the month of July with $102 million cash on hand, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission that the former president made public on Saturday evening.

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The fundraising figures, along with the former president’s continued strong standing among Republican voters in public opinion polling, are signs of Trump’s continued popularity and sway within the GOP six months removed from the White House and come even without access to his once powerful pages on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

The fundraising figures release comes as Trump remains intent on continuing to play a kingmaker’s role in party politics while he flirts repeatedly with another presidential run in 2024. Trump is sailing through unchartered waters as he continues to haul in big bucks – as he’s the first former president to raise such large sums of money after departing the White House. 

Trump out-raised the GOP House and Senate reelection committees during the first six months of the year, and came close to matching the $85 million hauled in from January through June by the Republican National Committee, which was first reported by Fox News last month.

Trump’s team touted that the fundraising haul came from 3.2 million contributions, which the federal filing showed were divided among Save America – which at $62 million took in the bulk of the fundraising - the Make America Great Again PAC, as well as a separate joint fundraising committee.

Separately, the pro-Trump Make America Great Again Action super PAC, which was formed in the spring and is steered by top Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski, brought in just over $5 million. 

The former president’s impressive haul comes as Trump – since losing last November’s election to now-President Biden – has repeatedly fed his supporters a regular diet of unsubstantiated claims that the election was "stolen" amid "massive" election fraud. 

A statement from Trump’s Save America leadership PAC claimed that "these fundraising numbers, coupled with tremendous support in so many other ways, show that President Trump's supporters want him to continue the fight for the America First Agenda and the truth in the 2020 elections."

And the former president charged in a statement that "bringing the truth about the Rigged and Stolen 2020 election to light is critical to restoring faith in our election process and our country itself."

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Save America, like all leadership PACs, is allowed to accept donations up to $5,000 per year from contributors. But there are few restrictions on how the money can be spent, with plenty of flexibility to use the funds raised for travel and events, paying advisers salaries, going up with ads, or supporting other candidates. One of the few things Trump can’t do with the money raised by Save America is to use it to pay for another presidential campaign.

Trump’s fundraising figures were first reported by Politico.

The former president’s headlining what’s being billed as a "sold out" fundraiser for the New York GOP on Thursday in Briarcliff Manor, New York. 

A day earlier Trump’s expected at the prestigious Winged Foot Country Club in Mamaroneck, New York. Trump, a longtime member of the private club, is being honored by other members. The move is opposed by other members, and the planned gathering has created controversy amid national attention in recent days.

Pompeo stops in South Carolina

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a potential 2024 Republican White House contender, kept his focus on 2022 on Friday, during a stop in South Carolina, the third state – and first southern state – to vote in the Republican presidential nomination calendar.

Pointing to next year’s midterm elections, when the GOP aims to regain the House and Senate majorities from the Democrats, Pompeo said he’s "spending my time traveling around the country helping good commonsense conservatives get elected in 2022. That needs to be everyone’s focus."

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Pompeo made his comments in front of nearly 1,000 people as he headlined the South Carolina GOP’s 54th annual Silver Elephant dinner, a top fundraiser for the state party. Earlier in the day the former congressman from Kansas who served as CIA director under Trump before being confirmed as America’s top diplomat, stopped at the state party’s headquarters to endorse Republican Gov. Henry McMaster’s 2022 reelection bid.

Pompeo deflected questions about his own political future during a news conference.

Two weeks ago, during a stop in Iowa – the state whose caucuses kick off the nomination calendar – told Fox News "my wife and I will pray and we’ll think our way through it and when we hit 2023, we’ll figure our way through it."

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And if Trump follows through on his repeated flirtations and launches another White House run, Pompeo said "President Trump will do his thing… he’ll make his choice. We’ll do our bit…I’m going to stay in that fight and I’m confident that President Trump is going to stay in that fight too. Where that actually takes us in 2023 and 2024, we’ll all have to wait and see."

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